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By Andres Vikdahl

The Rönnsktär smelter has recently undergone a series of technical and operational changes. This changes are caused by our own will to remain and gain in competivety and to adapt to the ever changing surroundings. To be able to remain competitive in surrounding with high wage costs, high inflation and high environmental standards thorough cost management is needed. The Swedish economic policy in the beginning of the 80'ies consisted amongst other things of two devaluations. The exchange rate of the Swedish Krona was reduced with approximatively 25 %. This boosted the profits of our export industry, some even believed we entered the land of milk and honey ... And working in this promised land where everything turns into profit it is very difficult to be careful and restrictive with your spendings. Apart from some healthy and fruitful investments we allowed ourselves yearly steady increases in salary for ever reduced number of worked hours and we of course employed more people. Inflation rates went up and so did property prices. In 1986 finally reality catched up on us. Reality in the form of too high costs started to hit Swedish export industry 5-6 years after the big devaluations. Furthermore the high inflation rate also hit the domestic industry a couple of years later. Together with other important factors Sweden faced a severe home-made recession in the beginning of the 90'ies. With this background we now report and analyse our smelter's performance and operating results, shown in fig 1 The main constrictions on smelting and refining at Rönnsktär are today: * Income restrictions by governmental production level Limit * Throughput resmctions by governmental emission limit * High capital costs in the aftermath of Swedish high inflation in the recent decade * Low work force turnover Below we will illustrate how we tackled with these issues along the following lines: * People * Quality * Technology

Jan 1, 1993

By Dan Wang, Yuanbo Zhang, Guihong Han, Guanghui Li, Tao Jiang, Yanfang Huang

"Hematite concentrates are characterized by bad high-temperature reactivity and poor balling index, which restrict their large-scale application in the production of oxidized pellets. An organic additive, namely MHA, was authorized and used as binder recently in China. Compared with bentonite, the effects of MHA on compressive strength of hematite pellets at various firing conditions were investigated in this study. Experimental results showed the compressive strengths of preheated pellets with different binders were increased with increasing the preheating temperature and time. The compressive strength of preheated pellets with MHA binder was lower than that of pellets with bentonite, which can be ascribed to the high porosity of pellets with MHA binder. However, the compressive strength of roasted pellets with MHA binder was higher than that of pellets with bentonite. The compressive strength of finished pellets balled with MHA binder 1.0 wt% could meet the operation requirements of grate-kiln process.IntroductionHematite concentrates are characterized by bad high-temperature reactivity and poor balling index, which can lead to the appearance of those problems with increasing the energy consumption, shortening the useful life of equipment, and finally increasing the operation cost of oxidized pellets plants [1-2]. Some investigations have been conducted based on improving the pelletizing technique of hematite concentrates, such as pretreatment of raw materials [3-7], optimization of ore proportioning [8], addition of solid fuels [9-16], and so on. Employing high pressure grinding roller for the treatment of hematite concentrates revealed that the mechanical strength of wet green pellets could be improved. However, the mechanical strength of fired pellets was not improved obviously [7]. Huang, et al., pointed out that the preheating and roasting temperature may be decreased and the compressive strength of fired pellets could be increased by blending a certain proportion of magnetite concentrates with hematite [8]. Nevertheless, there are a variety of magnetite ores different in physical and chemical properties in China, resulting in the instability operation [17]."

Jan 1, 2012

By Antti Roine

HSC Chemistry is a widely-used therniochemical tool in the chemical and metallurgical industries and in universities. The main reasons for it's popularity is the easy user interface and the large integrated thermochemical database. This paper summarizes the main properties of the new HSC Chemistry version 3.0, and gives a short review of the new features: Some metallurgical applications with the new features are also presented. HSC Chemistry 3:0 contains seven calculation modules and a thermochemical database with more than 11 ,000 chemical compounds. The new spreadsheet type table editor gives more control to the user, the new graphics routines have fewer limitations and more formatting properties. The capability and speed of calculation routines have also been improved.

Jan 1, 1998

By G. C. Amstutz

The topic of the industrial applications of mineralogy is a vast field which can be adequately covered only in a large book or by a two or three semester course. This paper recalls experiences of the writer in this field, a task requested by the Process Mineralogy Committee. Therefore, this paper is largely an account of the industrial mineralogy problems I was involved with, since my student years, Although I will treat each application only briefly, it is hoped that they will illustrate to the students in the field how varied are the applications of mineralogical methods. In this respect, I want to emphasize that it is important for mineralogy teachers to point out the usefulness of mineralogical methods much more often in their courses. Not only does that help prepare young individuals for industrial careers, but also it arouses their feeling of consciousness of public responsibility which is an important attribute for the world's scientists. When professors utilize the varied applications in their teaching of mineralogical methods students then understand better the significance of learning those methods and appreciate the many years of necessary university preparation. The first time I was involved in an application of mineralogical methods was about 1944 as a student of Professor Paul Niggli. He was asked to study the problems of ice crystallization on wings of airplanes. The ice formed at high altitudes and during the winter. This was not outside his realm of expertise because he was the main initiator of the Snow Research Institute on the Weissfluhjoch in Switzerland. I believe that the work of this Institute was an important factor in stimulating much of the snow research subsequently carried out at the United States Army Snow Research Center, which was located at that time in Willmette near Chicago. Dr. Bader, one of Paul Niggli's former students, was the Director of Research at Wilmette at that time and for quite a number of years thereafter. A mineralogist-crystallographer can make important contributions to a better understanding of the problems of snow and ice formation, avalanche hazards, and the prevention of hail. The habits of snow crystals are essentially a function of the temperature and the humidity,

Jan 1, 1982

By Gabriel Riveros

Fire refining of copper consists of two stages copper oxidation and copper reduction. Very frequently the capacity of the anode furnace is determined by the rate of copper reduction. The analysis of factors affecting the rate of the oxygen reduction from a liquid copper with solid carbon or injected hydrocarbons pointed out the role of the mass transfer in a liquid copper in final stage of the reduction. Experimental results of copper reduction with graphite and injected natural gas in laboratory- scale crucibles showed two stages of the reduction process with a sharp change of the controlling mechanism. The estimated dynamic surface area of gas bubbles based on the measured bubble frequency and the gas flowrate allowed for the detennination of the reaction constant as a degree of the partial pre-combustion of the air/natural gas mix. The variation of the used reductant as a function of the oxygen concentration and temperature has been evaluated based on the detennined kinetic model. The intensification of copper reduction in fire refining has been discusses on the basis of obtained kinetic data and analysis of various factors detennining the time of reduction.

Jan 1, 2003

By Juan Patricio Ibáñez

Separation of arsenic and copper from Cu-As-H2S04 electrolytes by electrodialysis has been investigated at room temperature. The effects of current density and pH were studied. An arsenic-free copper solution was obtained for all the tested conditions. The transport efficiency for copper ions was found to be higher than 98% after 3 hours' test. Transport of arsenic and copper through the ion exchange membranes was increased by increasing pH and current density. Solution pH was found to be a key parameter for the separation process, since it controls the speciation of the ions to be transported and the formation of unwanted precipitates which reduce the global efficiency of the electrodialysis process. The main conclusion is that electrodialysis is a promising technique to be used in separating and/or concentrating ions of interest in copper electrometallurgy.

Jan 1, 2003

By K. H. Bech, S. T. Johansen

"The mass transfer at fluid-fluid interfaces due to turbulent agitation is investigated theoretically. In particular a theory is derived for interface stresses due to interface energy and surface renewal. This theory indicates that surface renewal may take place if the geometry is sufficiently large and if surface tension is sufficiently low.By using a model for a typical turbulent structure we compute the interface mass transfer for a stressless interface and a fully interface. Results for the general situation is not presently available. The computed results are used to derive analytical expressions for the mass transfer based on turbulent kinetic energy and free stream turbulent length scales.One important application of the theory is the mass transfer at the electrolyte side of the bath-metal interface in the Hall-Heroult process. For this process we show that mass transfer should be expected to be of the rigid surface type."

Jan 1, 1999

By E. Fockedey

he destruction of free cyanide on a Co3O4 doped carbon felt was studied. The experiments were done with an eiectrochemical filter press cell on dilute alkaline solutions containing 250 mg/l NaCN. No chloride ions were added to the solutions. The cobalt oxide protects the felt against corrosion and has a catalytic effect on the degradation of the cyanide. This kind of electrode allows working with current density as high as 1200 Aim without any visible degradation of the felt. The most interesting results were obtained with a current density of 400 Aim' at which the cyanide concentration can be lowered to 5 mg/l with a current efficiency of more than 70 % and a specific energy consumption of about 10 kWh/ kg CN.

Jan 1, 1998

Many studies have been conducted over the past 3 decades on the leaching of gold in solutions containing thiosulfate, ammonia and copper. However, most of these studies have been carried out using ore samples, with very few fundamental studies of this system being attempted. The majority of the published studies have failed to acknowledge the undesirable side reaction between copper(H) and thiosulfate, let alone account for its effect. The fact that the solution chemistry is constantly changing makes it very difficult to perform a fundamental study of gold leaching. With the advent of the rotating electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance (REQCM), such fundamental studies are possible as this instrument measures mass in real time. This has allowed leach kinetics to be measured in a matter of minutes and hence at essentially constant solution conditions; The present paper highlights that a sufficient concentration of copper(II) and ammonia are required in order to achieve appreciable gold leach rates. However, the use of air (oxygen) to maintain the copper(Il) concentration catalyses the undesirable copper(II) reaction with thiosulfate. The presence of ammonium ions is shown to have an effect on this undesirable reaction as well as on the gold leaching ?reaction. Preliminary electrochemical studies into .gold electrowinning using the REQCM show that gold(I) thiosulfate cannot be readily reduced to metallic gold in the potential region at which cementation usually occurs. However, it is well known that gold cementation onto copper occurs rapidly. The current study addresses this discrepancy by studying the effect that copper and silver have on the reduction of gold thiosulfate. It has been found that the presence of both silver and copper enhance gold deposition, particularly at low over potentials. While this is beneficial in cementation, the presence of copper and silver in solution has been found to cause passivation of the cathode surface during electrowinning at 'higher overpotentials.

Jan 1, 1998

By Hong Yong Sohn

A novel flash ironmaking technology is under development at the University of Utah under the support of U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). The history of the development from the conception of the idea to the current status will be discussed. The flash ironmaking process produces iron directly from fine iron ore concentrates without requiring cokemaking and pelletization/sintering, which will enable the technology to significantly reduce energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions compared with blast furnace ironmaking. Unlike other gas-based ironmaking processes, this technology will not suffer from the problems of solid sticking and fusion. Current work is focused on the method of supplying the energy required to maintain the necessary temperature, as an intermediate step to determine the scalability for larger, industrial-scale pilot trials.

Jan 1, 2014

By Gabriel Riveros

Fire refining of copper consists of two stages copper oxidation and copper reduction. Very frequently the capacity of the anode furnace is determined by the rate of copper reduction, The analysis of factors affecting the rate of the oxygen reduction from a liquid copper with solid carbon or injected hydrocarbons pointed out the role of the mass transfer in a liquid copper in final stage of the reduction. Experimental results of copper reduction with graphite and injected natural gas in laboratory-scale crucibles showed two stages of the reduction process with a sharp change of the controlling mechanism. The estimated dynamic surface area of gas bubbles based on the measured bubble frequency and the gas flowrate allowed for the determination of the reaction constant as a degree of the partial pre-combustion of the air/natural gas mix. The variation of the used reductant as a function of the oxygen concentration and temperature has been evaluated based on the determined kinetic model. The intensification of copper reduction in fire refining has been discusses on the basis of obtained kinetic data and analysis of various factors determining the time of reduction.

Jan 1, 2003

By John Wallace, Chib Iheagwara

"Refinements in sensor design have produced low-cost rugged elements to act as loop coupled with stable detection hardware for eddy current measurement in difficult environments. This has allowed direct dimension gauging of nonferrous and ferrous products above the curie point for absolute dimensions and electrical conductivities independently. The software was developed for the analysis of electrical conductivity profiles in CZ silicon crystal growth, then refined for monitoring bar properties and tube properties. Since in most metal working operations, speeds at the minimum of a few hundred feet per minute are encountered the design of the gauge was optimized for a rapid measurement. Independently extracting electrical conductivity provides data in some metal systems for determining the temperature of the monitored product.IntroductionThe primary reason for the use of eddy currents in gauging is that in hostile environments of metal working techniques such as laser gauging and ultrasonics are not always robust enough for in process measurements. Our goal is to use the technique of eddy current measurement as a quantitative control element in various hot and cold processing operations. Inspection in the early stages of metal and semiconductor processing is usually too costly to introduce in a well developed process and these tools are usually only employed in process development. Until recently there has been no efficient general analysis to allow real time measurements in the cylindrical and the probe geometry that could separate dimensional changes from material property changes both which effect the eddy current response. The basis for these measurements is that forward electromagnetic problem for conductors can be solved exactly for the test geometry which allows an inverse analysis to be made by relaxing the dimensions and conductivity to values which reproduce the measured response[!]. This transformation is based on analysis developed in Robert Siegfried' s thesis and was explored both by modeling and by physical measurement. This analysis was extended over the last few years to allow a more compact data set to be used to exact physical properties. The main result was that the technique would work on high ·quality physical data on as little as three test frequencies with the penalty being that the analysis is computational intensive. The main result of this work was that a quantitative inverse analysis of eddy current response would allow a general instrument to be used for a variety of measurements rather than being tailored for a specific measurement on a specific material test geometry. The development of these instruments has progressed over the last ten years for monitoring real time solidification, crystal growth[2] and hot seamless tube forming where the use of standards in traditional eddy current is limiting. The specific instrument design was dictated by the requirements of the algorithm for both frequency selection and levels of systematic noise that could be tolerated. Because the data is need for real time information this dictated that the system be a parallel multifrequency eddy current instrument feeding the same sensor. The sensor have to be simple and robust and usually a single loop or several loop of heat resistant wire or tube. This presentation is about using inversion of multifrequency eddy current data in real time to produce dimensional and property data on cylindrical conductors and planar conductors in real time. The object of the measurements is to produce dimensional outputs on measurements of conducting material without having to establish a detailed standard for each material or size tested. The dimensional measurements using eddy currents is complicated by material variations in conductivity due to temperature and composition. Those variations that are not geometric are often not of critical interest and complicate the measurement. The dimensional changes are often of more importance"

Jan 1, 1997

By C. M. Iheagwara

An overview of the scope and ramifications of scrap recycling in the Nigerian metallurgical industries has been presented in this paper. The modern state-of-the-art processing techniques and the operational strategies employed in the recycling plants are discussed. Optimization techniques for cost effective recycling operations are highlighted. As new units within existing metallurgical plants and new metal working plants approach commercial operations, expansion of existing recycling plants and the emergence of new ones have been showing to hold the key to their profitability from the raw material standpoint. The present economic predicament of the entire industrial sub-sector, lack of sufficient foreign exchange to procure new machineries and the emergence of a maintenance culture have triggered a phenomenal increase in the number of spin-off industries which depend on metal recycling activities. This, it is argued, widens the horizon for scrap processing/recycling.

Jan 1, 1992

By Zhigan Deng

Ni–Mo ore is a black shale containing amorphous colloidal sulfides which have highly active. The oxygen pressure leaching behavior of nickel from black shale in aqueous media is presented. The effects of agitation speed, temperature, oxygen partial pressure and particle size on the rate of nickel leaching were determined. The results indicate that at low temperature hydrothermal and excess oxygen presence, the amorphous sulfides are easily oxidized to sulfuric acid and sulfate, and leaching nickel. The mathematical analyses of the experimental data for various experimental conditions indicated that the dissolution process was controlled by the chemical reaction during the early stage of dissolution, and was then controlled by liquid-film diffusion. In the initial stage of leaching, the reaction depends on oxygen partial pressure.

By Jerome Feinman, Sven O. Santen

"The principles involved in the generation and application of plasma energy are reviewed briefly and the major developments in commercial and semi-commercial primary metal and alloy production are described and discussed in broad outline, with emphasis on present performance and future potential. New concepts in the application of plasma energy in primary operations are described with emphasis on the expected advantages over conventional technology and the problems that have to be solved to enable effective implementation.IntroductionThe use of plasma energy in industrial processes is generally considered to have started in 1905 with the operation of the Birkeland process for nitrogen fixation for fertilizer production. Although it seems logical to apply plasma energy to metallurgical processes, which also usually require considerable energy at high temperature levels, serious development work along these lines did not begin until the early 1970's. The reasons for this hiatus are associated in part with recognized difficulties in applying plasma energy in processes involving tonnage quantities of solids in severe industrial environments and the delicate nature of the earlier plasma generators. Another, and perhaps overriding factor, is the fairly steady improvement in efficiency and economy of most primary metal producing processes by conventional developments and modifications through the 1950's and 60's. Examples of these evolutionary changes include burden preparation and fuel injection in blast furnace applications and prereduction treatments in ferroalloy operations. By the end of the 1970's most primary metal producing processes had been optimized close to the limit, at least in terms of those operations that were able and willing to implement the developed improvements. In this context, plasma energy offered the possibility to achieve further significant improvements in primary operations where conventional means were exhausted."

Jan 1, 1988

By Gudrun A. Saevarsdotti

For decades tile aluminium industry has been practicing gas treatment of aluminium melts. This treatment is of great importance because of its influence on 'impurity" and inclusion removal from the melt. The gas-melt interaction is greatly influenced by the gas composition, melt temperature etc. This paper gives an overview of the interaction between argon-chlorine gas mixtures and the aluminium melt. It covers the thermodynamics of the reaction between the chlorine and a number of different elements commonly found in liquid aluminium, and discusses the behaviour of reaction products in the melt. The paper reports an experimental study of the behaviour of the chlorine-molten aluminium interface, using sodium contaminated aluminium melt with and without the addition of grain refiner.

Jan 1, 1996

By Makiko Takahashi

A tool is being developed to predict and visualize the microstructural evolution of steels during quenching. This tool utilizes experimental data and reference data that are stored in a database to predict the microstructural development. The visualization tool animates qualitative representation of two- dimensional microstructure drawings as well as the quantitative volume fractions of phases present as a function of time. This is achieved by superimposing the Jominy End-Quench test results over the Continuous Cooling Transformation diagram of the alloy. The predicted microstructure is presented through the web browser to maximize the ease of use. In addition, a parallel coordinate system is used to aid in identifying similarities within the data set by presenting the large number of data at a glance. The results for 4140 steel that was quenched in a wide variety of quenchants will be presented to illustrate the prediction and visualization tools. Keywords: Quenching, Microstructure Prediction, Simulation, Data Visualization, Database, Applet, Animation

Jan 1, 2003

By R Bartlett

Process engineering-science originally developed for percolation leaching of ore in heaps is extended to the decontamination of unsaturated soil, either in situ or after excavation and emplacement as a soil heap on an impervious pad. Phenomena considered include: soil matrix porosity and permeability; percolating solution retention, capillarity and flow; washing sweep efficiency; optimum solution application rates during leaching; soil agglomeration to improve soil permeability and soluble contaminant transport by diffusion in soil agglomerates. Practical aspects briefly discussed include leach pad construction, solution distribution and recovery from the soil, and solution containment.

Jan 1, 1994

By Halvor Dalaker, Pål Tetlie

The decomposition of methane has been studied experimentally in contact with various oxides at elevated temperatures. For each oxide, the temperature at which the cracking starts has been determined. No correlation was found to exist between the temperature for the onset of cracking for a given oxide and the affinity for carbon of the oxide's metallic component. In terms of potential for using methane as a reducing agent, calculations are presented that indicate that the suitability of an oxide for such reduction depends on the desired methane+oxide reaction being more energetically favourable than the methane+methane=ethylene/acetylene reactions.

Jan 1, 2014

By B. W. Lightfoot, Neill F. Arthur

"The AusIron process is a new development of the well established Ausmelt bath smelting technology(l). The development of this technology has been tied to the South Australian Steel and Energy (SASE) project which brings dedicated coal and iron resources together with this new technology. SASE is a joint venture between Ausmelt (40%), Meekathara Minerals (40%) and the South Australian Government through Mines and Energy South Australia (MESA) (20%). It will use a multiple lance furnace to process iron ore using steaming coal for both fuel and reductant.It is intended to build the simplest plant economically possible. Refinements such as preheating and prereduction of the ore are compatible with the technology but are not expected to be necessary in the first generation plant.The joint venture is negotiating with suitable partners for funding of the project through to commercial implementation at a target scale of2.5 mt/a of pig iron.ObjectivesAusIron aims to produce pig iron directly from steaming coal and from any of a variety of iron sources in a simple furnace system with a minimum of pre-processing of either coal or iron ore. Preheating and prereduction of ore are compatible with the technology but may not be necessary. The immediate aim is not to be the technology that uses the least quantity of coal to produce iron metal but rather the technology that uses the least number of dollars to produce metal.The chemistry of iron making is well known, probably better known than that of smelting of any other metal. Iron has been made for thousands of years and it is possible to make iron from charcoal and ore in a simple blast furnace the size of a beer barrel. The focus is therefore not making iron but rather making it more cheaply than it is made by current technologies. Large blast furnaces now set the standard and new technologies must perform better if they are to gain market share. It is still the cost of iron, energy units and capital going into these mega blast furnaces which ultimately set the market price for pig iron."

Jan 1, 1996